The present invention relates to strings for musical instruments, and particularly to strings for musical instruments such as strings for guitars and the like that may be contaminated along their length and/or may cause undue finger discomfort when played. 2. Description of Related Art
There are a multitude of different types of musical strings employed today, each performing a different function. A typical guitar employs a straight (non-wound) string (such as xe2x80x9ccatgut,xe2x80x9d metal, or synthetic polymer (e.g., those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,339,499 and 4,382,358)) for higher pitched notes, and wound metal or polymer strings (usually a wrapped metal or polymer winding over a core of nylon or similar material) for lower pitch notes. Wound strings rely on the additional string mass per unit length supplied by the spiral wrap of the wound string to supply lower pitched notes at an acceptable string tension. Existing string designs have been refined over many years to provide excellent musical tones, but the strings continue to be limited in many respects.
There is a large variety of stringed musical instruments employed today that require human contact along at least a portion of the strings, such as in the fingering and plucking of guitar strings in order to be played. While straight gage strings can be easily wiped of dirt and oil after use, wound strings tend to become contaminated with dirt, skin oils, and perspiration after even a few hours of playing. It is believed that dirt and other contaminants infiltrate windings of the string causing the windings to have limited motion. After a relatively short period of time, a typical wound string will become musically xe2x80x9cdead,xe2x80x9d apparently due to the build-up of this contamination. Presently wound strings that lose their tonal qualities must be removed from the instrument and either cleaned or replaced. This process is burdensome, time consuming, and expensive for musicians who play frequently and care about tonal quality.
Another problem encountered with strings requiring fingering along a fingering board (e.g., a guitar fret board) is that a substantial amount of pressure must often be applied by the musician against the fingering board in order to produce different musical notes. This can be discouraging for beginning music students. Accomplished musicians normally develop extensive calluses on their fingers from years of playing their instruments. Despite such calluses, the pressure and friction generated by playing the instruments tends to be one of the primary causes of frustration and fatigue or injury for many musicians.
Still another problem with conventional strings, and particularly conventional wound strings, is that the action of fingering quickly across the strings often generates unwanted noises. For instance, it is common to hear a xe2x80x9csqueakxe2x80x9d from guitar wound strings as a musician fingers rapidly across a fret board or finger board. In order to avoid such squeaks, the musician must make a concerted effort to completely separate his or her fingers from the strings when repositioning on the fret or finger board. This repositioning action slows the musician""s note changes and further increases fatigue.
It would seem that some of these problems could be addressed if the strings could be coated with some substance to avoid contamination of the wound string windings and/or to provide some cushioning or smooth, non-squeak, cover for the strings. For example, Fender Corporation offers a bass guitar string that employs a spiral wrap of a flat, stiff polymer tape (such as nylon) around the wound string. The polymer tape is not adhered to the wound string and does not conform to the underlying bass string, but, instead, is held in place merely by tightly helically wrapping the stiff flat tape around the bass string and holding the tape from unwinding with an outer-wrapping of thread at each end of the guitar string. The polymer tape is wrapped with its side edges abutting without overlap of or adhesion to adjacent tape wraps.
While Fender Corporation""s use of a stiff tape wrap may help reduce some contamination problems or may make the string somewhat more comfortable to play (neither of which results appears to be claimed or established by Fender), the Fender bass guitar string has a distinctly xe2x80x9cdeadxe2x80x9d sound when played. The relatively heavy and stiff wrapping is believed to limit the amount and duration of vibration of the string, particularly at higher harmonic or overtone frequencies, muffling or xe2x80x9cdeadeningxe2x80x9d its sound. As a result of the use of such a non-deformable covering, the string is unsuitable for most guitar applications where a conventional xe2x80x9cbrightxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clivelyxe2x80x9d guitar sound is sought.
It is accordingly a primary purpose of the present invention to provide an improved musical instrument string that maintains close to a conventional lively sound while being resistant to contamination over a longer period of time than conventional strings.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide an improved musical instrument string that is faster, easier, and/or more comfortable to play than conventional strings.
It is still another purpose of the present invention to provide an improved musical instrument string that is less prone to generating unwanted noises when a musician""s fingers are moved along the string.
These and other purposes of the present invention will become evident from review of the following description.
The present invention is an improved musical instrument string for use on a variety of stringed musical instruments, including but not limited to guitars, double basses, pianos, violins, cellos, etc. The present invention is particularly suitable for use on musical instruments with strings that are prone to contamination and change in tonal quality over time, such as guitars and other instruments that have strings that are extensively handled during use.
The string of the present invention can employ a conventional wound string, such as a string having a center core and a spiral winding used to produce lower notes, and a polymer cover applied around and adhered to the wound string. The preferred cover comprises porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in the form of one or more tapes, sheets, or tubes that enwrap the wound string and protect the wound string from contamination. The cover of the present invention is unique over all previous attempts to cover a musical string in that the cover is selected and applied so as not to significantly degrade the normal sound of the musical instrument. The cover therefore is substantially a non-dampening cover.
The cover of the present invention is applied so as to provide a lubricious covering, and to protect the string from contamination and corrosion with little or no interference of the free movement of the wound string. Preferably, an expanded PTFE is employed that is longitudinally stretched so as to be relatively non-deformable in its longitudinal direction and relatively deformable in its transverse direction. By wrapping this cover around the wound string with the longitudinal axis of the cover oriented at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the wound string, the cover will maintain its position and conform to the wound string but will still permit sufficient movement of the windings to maintain tonal quality.
If an adhesive is applied to hold the cover to the wound string, bonding should be accomplished to assure that winding movement is not diminished. For example, a discontinuous coating of adhesive will provide secure attachment of the covering to the winding without interfering with the vibration of the wound strings.
The performance of the string of the present invention can be further enhanced by applying an additional layer of material on the outside of the expanded PTFE covering, such as a fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) polymer. This additional layer is believed to provide a number of important benefits, including better adhesion of the cover layer to itself, and improved resistance to wear and contamination. Additionally, it has been observed that an outside layer of such material may actually improve tonal quality of the string over use of a cover without such a layer.
While contamination resistance and improved string life are important benefits of the present invention, increased finger comfort or xe2x80x9cplayabilityxe2x80x9d is an equally exciting advantage. The string of the present invention is much more comfortable to use than conventional strings without covers. This results in the ability of a musician to play longer and with less fatigue. Moreover, since a fluoropolymer cover, such as PTFE, or FEP or a composite of these materials, is extremely smooth and slippery, the strings of the present invention are far less prone to xe2x80x9csqueakingxe2x80x9d during fingering. This allows for faster and less tiring fingering techniques without generating unwanted noise. This is also believed to make the guitar easier to learn and master by beginning players.